7 Links

For the past few days, a pretty cool post has been circulating called 7 Links. Once you’re tagged, you answer seven questions about your blog posts. We always love reading posts like these because they are a great way to get to know other bloggers and catch up on older posts you may have missed. I didn’t think we’d end up getting tagged (we’re a little under the radar) but were honored (and surprised) when Ashley of The Edible Perspective tagged us in her 7 Links post!

So here are our 7 Links. Like Ashley, it was a little too difficult for us to just choose one!

1. Our Most Beautiful Post: Two-year wedding anniversary and what we’ve learned so far…

This was one of our most recent posts ironically. It felt like a departure from the typical topics we blog about and was kind of a candid look into our marriage (what we’re willing to put on the Internet anyway). We are so proud of where we are right now and what we’ve managed to accomplish in the past two years so putting this post together was a lot of fun and very rewarding for us.

(Runners Up: Grandma + 3 Years)

2. Our Most Popular Post: Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Like Ashley, our most popular post was a lesson in what it is like to get Stumbled Upon. I’m talking serious traffic, for this one post. It’s still tops our monthly analytics reports. Don’t get me wrong, these cookies were great, but if we’re honest, the residual traffic and flow of new visitors has been even better!

PS – despite the traffic, we don’t have a lot of actual feedback, so give these cookies a whirl and let us know what you think!

(Runners up: Don’t Fear At-Home Sushi, Easy Vegetarian Tortilla Pie)

3. Our Most Controversial Post: Blueberry Flax Pancakes…And a Beer

No, it wasn’t the pancakes that created a stir in this post, nor was it that we were drinking beer while eating them. It was that Neil had chosen a Miller Light Lime to accompany them. Beer connoseirs every recoiled in horror. and descended on this post. Needless to say we’ve been a lot more selective with our beer posting (and selection) since then.

(Runners up: None, maybe we need to be more controversial?)

4. Our Most Helpful Post: Don’t Fear At-Home Sushi

According to analytics, this was by far our most successful tutorial. Initially we had almost scrapped the idea of a comprehensive sushi tutorial. We thought most people were already making simplified sushi at home. We were wrong, people LOVED it, and it was so awesome to hear their sushi-making stories after they had tried the tutorial, mastered the rice and felt comfortable enough to customize their rolls. They were so proud, and for many, it really sparked an interest in trying more difficult recipes that they had always been afraid to try. Definitely one of our all-time favorite posts!

(Runners up: The Z Transformation pt 4 – The Build Begins, Homemade Baked Corn Dogs!)

5. A Post Whose Success Surprised Us: It’s a Tie! Baked Spinach and Ricotta Pasta and Project Food Blog Challenge #2: Our First Tikvenik or Bulgarian Pumpkin Pastry

This was kind of a two-way tie because there were really two ways to look at it. If you look at it purely from analytics, the award would definitely go to our Baked Spinach and Ricotta Pasta. It was a unplanned weekday meal thrown together with whatever we had in the fridge, but it still gets tons of hits every week from people specifically looking for it.

If we were judging posts purely on reader response, our second entry post for FoodBuzz’s Project Food Blog. We were pretty sure it was just luck that we made it past the first round, but that post was hugely successful and net us the most comments we had seen to date on the blog. We obviously didn’t end up winning the contest, but it was that post that really made us feel like we were winners anyway.

(Runners Up: Mocha Tofu Chili, For Samantha (popular because apparently people love Disney nostalgia and are sad when the classic actors die.)

6. A Post I didn’t Think Got the Attention it Deserved: Pan-Roasted Pheasant with Carrot Purée and Watercress Salad

For Valentine’s Day this year, we made a very time-consuming romantic dinner we were sure would take off on the blog. Travel, research and lots of writing and editing went into it, and we thought that even if our readers weren’t able to source pheasant, they could easily replicate this dish with chicken. It was our first foray into “fancy” food and we could not wait to share it. And we did, to the response of crickets. After one comment and barely any hits, we were pretty devastated. What went wrong? Could we have done something better? In the end I consoled myself by eating my weight in carrot purée and we moved on. (Runners Up: At Home Take-Out: Healthified Szechuan Pork Stuffed Peppers, Homesick Curing Springfield-Style Cashew Chicken)

7. The Post I’m Most Proud of: Jessica: My First Loaf! Crusty Portuguese-American Yeasted Cornbread (Pao de Milho) Neil: The Z Transformation pt 5 – Race Ready

Jessica: I toiled and chickened out of making bread dozens of times before biting the bullet and just giving it a try. It turned out perfectly, and I am so amazingly happy I did because it has spiraled into dozens of loaves of bread of all types. I’m still kicking myself for waiting so long to try it.

Neil: I had dreamed of overhauling and race prepping my Z for years. I saved and carefully researched and planned everything I wanted to do. I even learned to do things myself in order to save money. I’m proud of not only how it turned out but how far I’ve come in my racing hobby over the last few years. Next year, I can’t wait to get back on the track!

(Runners Up: Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust, My First 5k)

So there you have it! Doing this activity was definitely an eye-opener for us. It’s good to walk back through your posts and identify trends, things you could rework or features that could use some retooling. I had entirely forgotten about some of our posts, and Neil was coming up with ideas left and right. So now the task becomes, who to tag next?

Chrissy of The New Me
Christa of C. Jane Create
Sarah of Daily Nibbles
Emily of Frilly Details
Annette of CoMo Homestead